Apparatus for driving forge hammer keys

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for driving forge hammer keys, having a twowheeled carriage upon which is fixed a cylinder serving as a reservoir for a pneumatic hammer slidably supported upon the cylinder. A winch mounted upon the hammer is selectively operable to effect raising and lowering of the hammer to a proper operating level relative to the work, or to draw and hold a drift end of the hammer into pressed engagement with the work so that the drift may follow the work as the latter is driven. The carriage provides both mobility and support for the apparatus. Leveling legs are provided on the carriage to effect angular positioning of the apparatus relative to the work.

United States Patent 2,028,320 1/1936 Curtis 173/22 2,362,161 11/1944 Sellars 173/23 X 2,913,226 11/1959 Pritchard et a1, 173/43 X Primary Examiner-Ernest R. Purser Attorney-Stephen J. Rudy ABSTRACT: An apparatus for driving forge hammer keys, having a two-wheeled carriage upon which is fixed a cylinder serving as a reservoir for a pneumatic hammer slidably supported upon the cylinder. A winch mounted upon the hammer is selectively operable to effect raisingand lowering of the hammer to a proper operating level relative to the work, or to draw and hold a drift end of the hammer into pressed engagement with the work so that the drift may follow the work as the latter is driven. The carriage provides both mobility and support for the apparatus. Leveling legs are provided on the carriage to effect angular positioning of the apparatus relative to the work.

PATENTEDunv 9 IQYI i mN ATTORNEY t APPARATUS FOR DRIVING FORGE HAMMERK'EYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention is concerned with improved apparatus for driving forge hammer keys.

In the interest of saving time, conserving work energy, and in producing desirably results in the driving of forge hammer keys, it is a general objective of this invention to provide for this purpose of unitary mobile structure in which a pneumatic driving hammer, an air reservoir cylinder for the hammer, and means for supporting and positioning the hammer relative to the work are integrated with one another in a compact arrangement. The structure is such that theair reservoir cylinder serves as a mobile-wheeled support for the hammer as well as a guide for positioning the hammer relative to the work; and the hammer serves also as a mount for a winch which is selectively operable to adjust the position of the hammer along the reservoir cylinder, or to maintain the working end of the hammer in constantly pressed engagement with the work as the latter is being operated upon.

While apparatus embodying the invention has special application in driving forge hammer keys, it is also usable in the driving of heavy pins in other structures, as well as in cutting large rivets and bolts in steel fabrications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of apparatus embodying the invention for driving forge hammer keys;

FIG. 2 is a detail of the slide bracket in association with the cylinder;

FIG. 3 is a detail view from the rear or left end of FIG. 1 showing the association of the winch with the slid bracket; and

FIG. 4 is a detail view of the rear or left end of the carriage portion of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The key driving apparatus illustrated in the drawing as embodying the invention includes a two-wheeled carriage l having a bed plate 11 upon which is rigidly mounted an elongated hollow cylinder 12. The latter is closed at its top by means of an end wall 13; and is closed at its bottom by means of the bedplate 11 to which it is welded. The cylinder extends perpendicularly upward from the center of the bedplate. A pneumatically powered hammer I4 is mounted crosswise of a side area of the cylinder by means of a bracket 15. The bracket is slidably adjustable along the cylinder so as to carry the hammer to a selected work position. The cylinder serves not only as a supportand positioning guide for the hammer, but also serves as a reservoir of operating air for the hammer. An inlet tap 16 to the cylinder is connectable with an air compressor whereby the cylinder may be filled with pressurized air. A spigot 17 is provided to drain the cylinder of any water condensate that may develop therein.

The hammer is of a conventional type, suitable for the purpose of driving heavy work, such as forge hammer keys which may be as large as 2 /2 inches X3 inches X36 inches. It has an elongated barrel 18 defining a piston chamber in which a piston 19 is air-driven to deliver a heavy blow against a work steel, such as the drift 21. A safety retainer cap 22, threaded over the front end of the barrel, is cooperable with a flange 23 on the drift to prevent escape of the latter, as might otherwise occur.

The hammer has a backhead section 25 provided with an inlet 26 connected by means of a hose 27 with an outlet tap 28 at the lower end of the cylinder. Within the backhead is the usual throttle valve which is operable by mean of a manually operable crank lever 30 to effect, each time it is moved, a single stroke operation of the piston. The throttle lever has a normal position, as in FIG. 1, limited upon a stop pin 31 wherein inlet air is shut off from the piston chamber. It has an intermediate second position at B in which inlet air flows from the backhead over an external hose 32 to the piston chamber forwardly of the piston to effect return movement of the piston to the throttle end of the hammer. And it has a third position, limited upon a stop pin 33, in which inlet air flows from the backhead to the piston chamber rearwardly of the piston to drive the piston on a work stroke to pound the drift. During normal operation of the hammer, the drift is pressed against the work so as to retract the tail end of its shank axially into the piston chamber in the path of the piston. The flange 23 of the drift is cooperable with an internal shoulder 34 to limit the extent of drift retraction into the piston chamber.

The carriage 10 provides mobility and support for the apparatus. It includes a single shaft 35 extending centrally and longitudinally of the underside of the bedplate which it supports. A tired wheel 36 is mounted on each of the projecting ends of the shaft for relative rotation. A handle 37 (FIG. 3) extending transversely of the backhead of the hammer enables the operator to wheel the apparatus about from one location to another.

The carriage is provided with a pair of strap legs 38 which are bolted to opposite end areas of the bedplate from which they extend rearwardly and downwardly. In the vertical position of the cylinder, as in FIG. 1, foot ends 39 of the legs are raised a short distance clear of the ground surface. The cylinder may be titled rearwardly until the legs engage the ground surface; and the apparatus may, if weighted sufficiently in a rearward direction, as by exertion of downward pressure upon the backhead handle, be allowed to rest upon the legs 38.

The carriage is also provided with a pair of adjustable screw legs 40. Each is threadable in the forward corner of a U-frame 41, the free ends of which are mounted to opposite end areas of the bedplate 11. The sidearms 42 of the U-frame extend forwardly in the plane of the bedplate and the screw legs are perpendicular thereto. When the hammer is adjusted in the bracket 15 relative to the cylinder so as to be overbalanced in the forward direction, the screw legs will engage the ground surface and prevent the apparatus from toppling over forwardly. The screw legs may be adjusted, as needed, relative to the ground surface to bring the cylinder to a vertical position or to a tilted position forwardly or rearwardly of vertical. By this means, the hammer together with its drift may be positioned angularly as desired to obtain a desirable engagement of the drift with the work.

The adjustable bracket 15 mounting the hammer to the cylinder includes a split collar 43, as best seen in FIG, 2, which is slidably received onto the cylinder over its top end. The collar carries at its side a transversely extending sleeve clamp 44 in which the hammer is received. The collar is slidably adjustable up or down the cylinder to bring the hammer to a desired level relative to the work; and it is then made secure in its adjusted position. The split ends of the collar terminate in a pair of ears 45 which, when drawn together by means of a manually operable tumscrew 46, restrain the collar to the cylinder against relative sliding movement; and when the ears are forced apart by means of the turnscrew, the collar may be slidably moved along the cylinder.

The clamp includes upper and lower separable complementary halves 47, 48 between which the barrel of the hammer is received. The lower clamp half is welded along its inner side to a supporting plate 49 which is bolted to a spacer block 51 fixed to a side area of the collar. The upper clamp half has an inner side wing 52 which is removably bolted to the supporting plate; and has an opposite wing 53 which is releasably bolted in clamped relation about the hammer barrel to a complementary wing of the lower half of the clamp. Before the clamp is tightened about the hammer, the latter may be slidably adjusted either forwardly or rearwardly in the clamp to obtain a substantially balanced condition or, as desired, a position overbalanced either in a forward or rearward direction. The illustrated hammer is slightly overbalanced in a forward direction. The hammer is held by the clamp in a position which is at right-angles to the cylinden'lhe supporting plate 49 of the clamp is keyed, as at 55, to the spacer block 5| to restrain the plate against relative turning.

Because of the weight of the hammer, a winch 56 is mounted atop the hammer for adjustably raising or lowering it along the cylinder. The winch includes a supporting frame or bracket 57 which is bolted fast to the backhead of the hammer, as at 58. The winch is of a conventional nature. It includes a drum 59, an operating crank lever 61 together with pawl-ratchet structure, generally indicated at 62, for winding and unwinding a cable 63 relative to the drum. The cable extends forwardly from the drum in parallel relation to the barrel to the underside of a pulley 64. It then extends vertically upwardly over the pulley and is detachably engaged by means of a terminal hook 65 in an eyebolt 66 at the upper end of the cylinder. The pulley is mounted in a bracket 67 that is fixed atop the clamp. Bolted atop the cylinder is a strap 68 having a portion carrying the eyebolt in overhanging relation to a side area of the cylinder. The eyebolt and pulley are located so as to lie in a vertical line which is parallel to the axis of the cylinder and passes through the midpoint of the clamp 44.

When the bracket collar 43 is in loosened condition upon the cylinder, and winch may be manually operated in conventional manner to selectively wind or unwind the cable relative to the drum so as to slide the bracket along the cylinder as needed to bring the hammer to a desired work level. After this adjustment is made, the collar of the bracket is tightened about the cylinder to secure its position thereon.

The winch is also used to obtain a pressured condition of the drift against the work so that as the work is being driven the drift will follow it until the operation is completed. To accomplish this, the cable hook is removed from the eyebolt after the slide bracket has obtained its adjusted condition. The cable is then extended forwardly parallel to the longitudinal axis of the hammer to engage the hook with an area of the forge hammer structure adjacent to the work. Here, the broken line position of the cable shows the hook engaging a chain 69 anchored to the forge hammer close to the work. When the hook is so engaged, the winch may be operated to wind the cable about its drum so as to draw the entire apparatus on its wheeled carriage toward the forge hammer so as to press the drift against the work 71.

In employing the apparatus to drive a forge key, the operator presses down upon the handle 37 at the backhead to tilt the apparatus rearwardly sufficiently to raise the screw legs 40 clear of the ground. He then wheels the apparatus to the area of the work and allows the screw legs to reengage the ground surface. The cable hook 65 is then engaged with the eyebolt 66 of the cylinder; and the collar 43 of the slide bracket is loosened. The winch is then operated to raise or lower the hammer as needed to the level of the key; the collar is then retightened about the cylinder. The screw legs 40 are next adjusted, as needed, to tilt the cylinder sufficiently to bring the drift in axial alignment with the work of key 71. The cable hook is then engaged with a chain 69 or other anchoring means mounted to the forge hammer, and the winch is operated to draw the drift into pressed relation with the key. While the operator presses directionally with one hand upon the winch lever 61 to continually maintain the drift pressed against the work, his other hand moves the throttle lever 30 forwardly to its intermediate B position causing inlet air to feed into the forward end of the cylinder to move the piston to its starting position at the rear of the piston chamber, if it is not already there. At about the time that the piston reaches its starting position, the operator moves the throttle lever to its third position at 33, causing inlet air to drive the piston with a heavy single blow against the key. As the key is driven inwardly, the drift 21 follows it under the constant pressure being applied to the drift by the winch. The operator repeats the operation of the throttle valve to apply further single successive strokes to the key until the latter is finally driven.

While the tool has special application in driving forge hammer keys, as described above, it is not limited to this use. It may also be used to drive master pins from crawler tracks or loader buckets. Further, the drift may be replaced with a chisel to enable the apparatus to be used to cut rivets and bolts from steel fabrications.

APPARATUS FOR DRIVING FORGE HAMMER KEYS LIST OF ELEMENTS l0 carriage 38 strap legs ll bed plate 39 foot ends 12 cylinder 40 screw legs [3 end wall 41 U-frame 14 hammer 42 arms of U-frame l5 slide bracket 43 split collar 16 inlet trap 44 sleeve clamp 17 spigot 45 collar cars 18 barrel 46 turnscrcw l9 piston 47 upper clamp half 20 48 lower clamp half 21 drift 49 supporting plate 22 retainer cap 50 23 drift flange 5l spacer block 24 52 clamp wing 25 backhead 53 clamp wing 26 inlet 54 27 hose 55 keyed 28 outlet 56 winch 29 $7 winch bracket 30 throttle lever 58 bolting 3| stop pin 59 winch drum 32 hose 60 B throttle 2nd position 61 crank lever 33 stop pin 62 pawl-ratchet 34 shoulder 63 cable 35 carriage shaft 64 pulley 36 wheel 65 cable hook 37 handle 66 eyebolt 67 pulley bracket 68 strap 69 chain H work What is claimed is:

1. ln apparatus for driving forge hammer keys, including an elongated pneumatically powered hammer having a work end engageable with a key to be driven, an upright operating air supply cylinder having a feed hose connection with the hammer, a bracket slidably adjustable along the cylinder having a side clamp in which the hammer is received in transverse relation to the cylinder, means on the bracket for clamping it in an adjusted position on the cylinder, a mobile carriage having a bedplate fixed to the bottom of the cylinder, and winch means mounted atop the hammer having engagement with the cylinder for adjustably sliding the bracket and as a consequence the hammer along the cylinder.

2. In apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the bed plate defines an end closure for the cylinder.

3. ln apparatus as in claim I, wherein the winch means is selectively engageable with a forge hammer structure supporting the key so as to draw the apparatus to bring its work end in pressed engagement with the key.

4. In apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the bracket has a split collar slidably disposed about the cylinder, together with releasable means for tightening the collar to the cylinder so as to restrain it from relative movement.

5. In apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the mobile carriage includes a single cross-shaft upon each end of which is mounted a wheel for relative rotation.

6. ln apparatus as in claim 5, wherein the apparatus includes handle means engageable by the operator for wheeling the apparatus from one location to another.

7. in apparatus as in claim 5, wherein leg means is provided on the bedplate engageable with the ground surface in a rearwardly tilted position of the bedplate about its axis.

8. ln apparatus as in claim 7, wherein adjustable leg means attached to a forward end of the bedplate is provided for causing adjustable tilting of the bedplate about its axis and consequent tilting of the cylinder and hammer.

9. ln apparatus as in claim 8, wherein the adjustable leg means are screws in a frame that extends forwardly from the bedplate.

LII

bottom of the cylinder; and winch means mounted upon the hammer having a drum cable engageable selectively with the cylinder for sliding the collar and as a consequence the hammer along the cylinder, or with the supporting structure for drawing the apparatus upon its wheeled carriage toward the work so as to hold the work implement in pressed engagement with the work.

I. l i I? 

1. In apparatus for driving forge hammer keys, including an elongated pneumatically powered hammer having a work end engageable with a key to be driven, an upright operating air supply cylinder having a feed hose connection with the hammer, a bracket slidably adjustable along the cylinder having a side clamp in which the hammer is received in transverse relation to the cylinder, means on the bracket for clamping it in an adjusTed position on the cylinder, a mobile carriage having a bedplate fixed to the bottom of the cylinder, and winch means mounted atop the hammer having engagement with the cylinder for adjustably sliding the bracket and as a consequence the hammer along the cylinder.
 2. In apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the bed plate defines an end closure for the cylinder.
 3. In apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the winch means is selectively engageable with a forge hammer structure supporting the key so as to draw the apparatus to bring its work end in pressed engagement with the key.
 4. In apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the bracket has a split collar slidably disposed about the cylinder, together with releasable means for tightening the collar to the cylinder so as to restrain it from relative movement.
 5. In apparatus as in claim 1, wherein the mobile carriage includes a single cross-shaft upon each end of which is mounted a wheel for relative rotation.
 6. In apparatus as in claim 5, wherein the apparatus includes handle means engageable by the operator for wheeling the apparatus from one location to another.
 7. In apparatus as in claim 5, wherein leg means is provided on the bedplate engageable with the ground surface in a rearwardly tilted position of the bedplate about its axis.
 8. In apparatus as in claim 7, wherein adjustable leg means attached to a forward end of the bedplate is provided for causing adjustable tilting of the bedplate about its axis and consequent tilting of the cylinder and hammer.
 9. In apparatus as in claim 8, wherein the adjustable leg means are screws in a frame that extends forwardly from the bedplate.
 10. In apparatus for hammering a work implement against a piece of work mounted in a supporting structure, an elongated pneumatically powered hammer having a work implement engageable with the work, an operating air supply cylinder having a feed hose connection with the hammer, a collar slidably adjustable along the cylinder having a side clamp in which the hammer is clamped in crosswise relation to the cylinder, means on the collar for securing it in an adjusted position on the cylinder, a wheeled carriage having a bedplate fixed to the bottom of the cylinder; and winch means mounted upon the hammer having a drum cable engageable selectively with the cylinder for sliding the collar and as a consequence the hammer along the cylinder, or with the supporting structure for drawing the apparatus upon its wheeled carriage toward the work so as to hold the work implement in pressed engagement with the work. 